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Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
May 7, 2019
Turkey - Democracy at stake: Turkey orders Istanbul re-vote, posing questions for democracy
Turkey will hold fresh elections for the mayor of Istanbul after the ruling party of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the first vote, in which an opposition MP beat Erdogan's candidate, contained errors.
Markets saw it as further confirmation of the country's slide into one-man rule, with the lira dropping against the US dollar. The decision could "severely damage" Turkish voters' "trust", the Council of Europe in Strasbourg said.
Read more at: Turkey orders Istanbul re-vote, posing questions for democracy
Markets saw it as further confirmation of the country's slide into one-man rule, with the lira dropping against the US dollar. The decision could "severely damage" Turkish voters' "trust", the Council of Europe in Strasbourg said.
Read more at: Turkey orders Istanbul re-vote, posing questions for democracy
April 15, 2019
TURKEY- Municipal Elections: Sore loser AKP leader Erdogan creates excuses not to accept Istanbul loss
The pot is declaring the kettle black. Turkey's Erdogan decries vote 'theft'
April 10, 2019
April 8, 2019
Turkey Democracy under corrupt Erdogan is a farce: Erdogan's AKP party which in 2018 Presidential Elections called Erdogan the winnner in just three hours, is now asking for recount after recount in Municipal elections they lost
Corrupt Erdogan's AKP party demands another full vote re-count in Istanbul they lost.
And the AKP calls that democracy? In the world where democracy is practiced it is usually called, being a sore loser, or worse, a lack of Democracy.
And the AKP calls that democracy? In the world where democracy is practiced it is usually called, being a sore loser, or worse, a lack of Democracy.
April 5, 2019
Turkey: Erdogan and AKP show their real faces following losses at the Municipal elections in Turkey. Local and foreign observers call Government sore losers and abusers of their powers
Mr Erdogan and his AKP party are showing their real manipulative
faces following their losses in major Turkish cities during the
municipal elections in Turkey by not accepting most of the results.
Protests have been lodged by the EU and the US to Turkey for this
undemocratic manipulative behavior by the Erdogan Government following
the Municipal Elections
April 2, 2019
April 1, 2019
TURKEY MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: Opposition sweeping all the big cities with AKP trying to fiddle with the votes in Istanbul
"Turkey's main opposition candidate says 'very clear' he won Istanbul" -
March 23, 2019
Syria: Trump statement on Golan Heights: EU, Syria, Turkey reject Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights
EU, Syria reject Trump's statement on Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights
Read more at
March 7, 2019
The Netherlands: Russian money laundering machine shifted millions through the Netherlands
In total, almost €1bn of the money ended up in the Netherlands, some of which was used to buy two luxury yachts, said the research project, which includes Trouw and the Groene Amsterdammer magazine plus Dutch investigative journalism collective Investico.
The OCCRP says Troika Dialog, once Russia’s largest private investment bank, channeled billions of dollars out of Russia from 2004 via a network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The two Lithuanian banks were closed down in 2011 and 2013.
The scheme was discovered in a collection of 1.3 million banking transactions and other documents obtained by OCCRP and the Lithuanian news site 15min.lt, which stem from the two Lithuanian banks.
Some of the money was channeled into the Netherlands via the Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) and Turkey’s C. ATB, part of Russia’s Alfa Bank, is already involved in corruption investigations.
Smaller amounts were moved through ING and ABN Amro, the Groene Amsterdammer said. ‘The million euro payments came from the Troika Bank and had many signs of money laundering,’ the magazine said.
In addition, €43m went to the Rabobank account of luxury yacht builder Heesen, according to Dutch investigative news collective Investico.
‘How could all this happen under the watchful eye of the central bank DNB?’ the magazine asked. ‘Banks are banned from carrying out transactions if they don’t know who profits, but, the central bank says, banks often have no idea who is really hiding behind anonymous companies.’
The central bank declined to answer specific questions about the claims, the Groene Amsterdammer said.
EU-Digest
February 15, 2019
Turkey: Erdoğan’s aggression against Turkey’s Kurds—it’s personal - by Cemal Ozkahraman
Against the background of Turkey’s affiliation to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the European Union’s official recognition of its candidature for full membership at the Helsinki Summit in 1999 gave hope to Kurds concentrated in east and south-east Turkey that they would soon obtain political rights enabling them to represent their own regions and stimulate their culture and identity. Indeed, despite the continuation of the Turkish state’s customary denial of Kurdish realities, during the early years of the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan there was some alleviation of its treatment of the Kurds. Particularly since the June 2015 general election, however, Erdoğan’s government has returned to the old ways, clamping down on the Kurds, imprisoning their elected politicians and members of their People’s Democratic Party (HDP), notably its former leader, Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been jailed in the face of ECHR demands that he should be released.
Why did such militant antagonism towards the Kurds resurface just at the time when Turkey was on the verge of achieving a lasting peace with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)? Part of the reason is that Erdoğan is manoeuvring to regain popularity among Turkish voters before the local elections in March. Being very conscious of Turkish sensitivity with regard to Türklük (‘Turkishness’) and devlet bekasi (state security), Erdoğan constantly implies that the HDP and Demirtaş are terrorists and traitors, accusing them of supporting the PKK. By creating enemies and then spreading fears that these enemies are attempting to destroy Turkish unity, he had previously achieved substantial voters’ support for the continuation of his ‘sultanate’, enabling him to reinforce his aim of a Sunni-based, nationalist, one-party-state system of autocratic militarist enforcement in Turkish politics. He has been consistent in trying to achieve this by touching on the Turkish electorate’s most sensitive nerves, Türklük and devlet bekasi.
But this is not the only reason for his severity. It can only be fully comprehended by seeing it in terms of resentment—an autocrat’s revenge—with the HDP the most direct object for punishment.
Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the 2002, 2007 and 2011 elections, holding a majority of seats for 13 years. This enabled him to minimise the impact of traditional opposition forces, including the military and Turkish ruling elites, the ‘Kemalists’ (followers of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk). To cement his vision of Atatürk’s Turkey, Erdoğan seeks absolute domination, and this can only be achieved by a presidential, rather than parliamentary, system.
Read more:Erdoğan’s aggression against Turkey’s Kurds—it’s personal • Social Europe
December 29, 2018
Turkey - Netherlands relations: Turkey recalls Rotterdam consulate employee who beat-up Kurdish visitor to consulate
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/61e50cd5-2d82-42bb-a0fe-db1439602ea2
December 20, 2018
SYRIA: Trump shocks allies and advisors with plan to pull troops out of Syria
Trump shocks allies and advisers with plan to pull US troops out of Syria
Read more at
December 14, 2018
EU -Turkey-Russian Energy Cooperation: "Politics can make strange bedfellows" - Russia’s Gas Strategy Gets Help From Turkey - by Marc Pierini
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| Politics/Energy can make strange bedfellows |
For Ankara, the project is a symbol of
Turkey’s independent decisionmaking and of the country’s significance in
the wider region. Seen from Ankara, Turkish Stream serves a political
purpose. It celebrates the blossoming friendship between Turkey and Russia
and confirms Ankara’s ambition to be part of the solution to major
international issues—in this case, securing the gas needs for a large
part of the EU.
However, Turkish Stream will also increase Ankara’s dependence on Moscow for its energy needs.
The project’s second meaning is that Turkey is contributing to an essential element of Russia’s multi-pronged, long-term strategy of remaining Europe’s major gas supplier, while creating a “third gas corridor” in addition to the Ukrainian and Baltic Sea supply routes. This strategy is unfolding on several fronts: in Ukraine; in the Baltic Sea; and through future extensions of Turkish Stream to southern and central Europe (toward Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, and to Greece and Italy.)
It is also worth noting that Turkish Stream is not part of the EU’s Energy Union plans since it does not contribute to diversification of supplies. In fact, it will rather reinforce Russia’s market predominance in both Turkey and the EU.
In Ukraine, the multi-pipeline network channeling Russian gas to Western Europe will remain a vital link.
But reducing its use could inflict massive losses in terms of transit
costs for authorities in Kiev, which is part of Russia’s strategy in
Ukraine.
Much will depend on negotiations for the
extension of the Russia-Ukraine commercial agreement, which will end in
2019. To help alleviate Kiev’s concerns, Germany has made the
continuation of transit via Ukraine an ingredient of a final agreement
on Nord Stream 2, the latter being the subject of controversies within the EU.
The Russian strategy is in no way limited
to selling Russian gas on the European continent. It extends much
further afield in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
Egypt is a case in point.
Following the massive discoveries in the so-called Zohr field to the north and east of the Nile River delta, Russia bought a 30 percent stake
from the Italian energy group ENI in 2016 with the consent of the
Italian government, which Moscow has had a long and close relationship
with. The official reason for the sale was the need for ENI to spread
the risk of its Egyptian operation.
Similarly, offshore gas discoveries in
Lebanese waters have attracted Russian interest— although drilling off
Lebanon is largely dominated by France’s TOTAL and Italy’s ENI, who have
a 40 percent share each. Russia’s NOVATEK has bought a 20 percent stake.
Russia has also made moves to control both the oil and gas sector in Syria,
despite the ongoing war. The actual effect of these recent maneuvers
will very much depend on the final political arrangement expected to end
the almost eight-year-old civil war. Many of Syria’s oil and gas fields
are located north and east of the Euphrates River, currently outside
the control of regime forces. In addition, for reasons linked to the
ongoing naval military activities, no offshore exploration has yet taken
place in Syrian waters.
In Iraq, Russia is involved in pipeline deals in the Kurdistan region
through a number of oil and gas companies, although the actual exports
would have to take place through Turkish territory or possibly even
through Syria in the distant future.
Such an ambitious Russia strategy is justified by Europe’s gas market fundamentals.
A stronger demand for gas in Europe is good for Russia. According to Oxford Energy,
gas demand in Europe (Turkey and non-EU Eastern Europe included, except
Serbia) has started rising again for three consecutive years—in 2015,
2016, and 2017—to reach a level of 548 billion cubic meters (bcm), due
to continued economic recovery, the impacts of climate change, and the
increased use of gas by the power sector. The trend seems to be
continuing in 2018.
According to the Finnish Institute for International Affairs,
Russia took advantage of several factors: economic recovery and
decreasing gas production in the EU, lower Russian selling prices, and
the current limited availability of non-Russian liquefied natural gas
(LNG) on the European market.
In addition, preexisting disputes between the EU and Russia (including an antitrust investigation against Gazprom, and a Russian complaint at the WTO) have been resolved, signaling that commercial interests on both sides have prevailed, despite a less-than-optimal political climate.
In such an environment, Russia is in a strong position to keep dominating gas supplies to the EU,
which amounted to 40 percent of extra-EU imports in 2016—although
new developments could upset the current situation, such as a rapid
development of LNG exports to Europe from other sources.
LNG imports amounted to only 14 percent of total extra-EU gas imports in 2017, with the main supplies coming from Qatar (41 percent), Nigeria (19 percent), and Algeria (17 percent).
LNG imports amounted to only 14 percent of total extra-EU gas imports in 2017, with the main supplies coming from Qatar (41 percent), Nigeria (19 percent), and Algeria (17 percent).
In this wider context, and seen from Brussels, Turkish Stream—with
a final projected capacity to deliver 31.5 bcm/y, of which 15.75 bcm/y
would go to Europe —is a relatively small component of the wider gas
supply chain to the EU. In fact, it would represent just over 6 percent
of the EU’s imports at 2017 levels.
Yet, seen from Moscow, the pipeline is
potentially a significant addition to Russia’s capabilities to export
gas to Europe (Turkey included). Assuming that Turkish Stream’s second
phase will be completed and operational, it would represent between 16
and 19 percent of Russian sales to the EU and Turkey (at 2017 levels and
all other factors remaining unchanged).
In that sense, the ceremony on November 19
in Istanbul was more than just another photo opportunity. It was a
symbol of the success of Russia’s objectives in the wider Western
European area, with Turkey’s help.
Together with Russia’s S-400 missile
deal with Turkey, it was a symbol of how efficiently Moscow has been
using Ankara’s relative diplomatic isolation to its advantage. For
Ankara, this was another way of telling the world: Turkey matters.
October 21, 2018
Turkey: Economy is thriving, despite what Analysts say
Via euronews: Trade Minister: The real Turkish economy is proving analysts wrong | View
September 10, 2018
The new emerging face of "Democracy": Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw - by Hasan Suroor
Professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge
University, David Runciman provides in his book an interesting insight
to Modi’s India and Democracy.
I am not sure that many in the Modi Government would be familiar with the name of David Runciman, professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.
But this week’s crackdown on civil rights activists and dissidents is the biggest endorsement of his new book, “How Democracy Ends”, in which he lists India as among the countries where democracy is being upended in the name of protecting it from supposedly undemocratic forces. India, according to him, illustrates the threat that democracy is facing from “executive aggrandisement” and “strongmen chipping away at it while paying lip service to it”.
It represents the new emerging face of democracy where it all appears tickety-boo on the surface, but is haemorrhaging from inside. Indians might find it embarrassing that he lumps their country with such authoritarian democracies as Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines where too “strongmen” are “chipping away” at democratic institutions while paying lip service to them.
Runciman sees Narendra Modi as part of a growing cast of “ever more characterful performers” alongside Donald Trump, Recep Erdogan, and Lech Kazcynski, among others, who have converted democracy into an “elaborate performance” to engage public attention while quietly wrecking it from inside. Like them, he has developed a “personality cult” operating through networks of private interests and hardline followers .
Read more: Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw | National Herald
I am not sure that many in the Modi Government would be familiar with the name of David Runciman, professor of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University.
But this week’s crackdown on civil rights activists and dissidents is the biggest endorsement of his new book, “How Democracy Ends”, in which he lists India as among the countries where democracy is being upended in the name of protecting it from supposedly undemocratic forces. India, according to him, illustrates the threat that democracy is facing from “executive aggrandisement” and “strongmen chipping away at it while paying lip service to it”.
It represents the new emerging face of democracy where it all appears tickety-boo on the surface, but is haemorrhaging from inside. Indians might find it embarrassing that he lumps their country with such authoritarian democracies as Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines where too “strongmen” are “chipping away” at democratic institutions while paying lip service to them.
Runciman sees Narendra Modi as part of a growing cast of “ever more characterful performers” alongside Donald Trump, Recep Erdogan, and Lech Kazcynski, among others, who have converted democracy into an “elaborate performance” to engage public attention while quietly wrecking it from inside. Like them, he has developed a “personality cult” operating through networks of private interests and hardline followers .
Read more: Taking democracy for granted is a fatal flaw | National Herald
August 30, 2018
Turkey: Vision versus Suppression, "What a difference a day makes", as Turkey Celebrates its "Victory Day" over invading Allied Troops 96 years ago
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| Turkey's visionary leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk |
Throughout his presidency, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk diligently implemented his visions of a modern nation.
For over 600 years, Turks had only known Sultans as absolute monarchic rulers, a system to be obeyed.
But to bring his nation into a new era, Atatürk knew he needed to expedite Turkey’s social, political, and technological standards to those of Europe. He also understood that encouragement was needed for the citizens who were war-shocked, exhausted, near poverty, and confused about this new way of governing.
He was also quite aware that progress meant a struggle with those who advocated the return of ancient traditions and the religious Ottoman Sultanate dynasty.
Atatürk scrapped the archaic, convoluted Ottoman form of government and replaced it with policies and principles based on Swiss and other European laws. More than just trading one system for another, Atatürk dedicated himself to his people, believed in them, and knew that they would value the reformations as deeply as he did. As a result, Turkey was transformed into a secular nation with westernized legal, economic, social, educational, and cultural programs.
The following highlights the most prominent aspects of Atatürk’s reforms:
- Abolished the Ottoman Sultanate (late 1922).
- Declared the Turkish Republic (29 October 1923).
- Formed the office of Prime Minister, President, and a democratically-elected National Assembly (1923).
- Adopted a new constitution (1924).
- Abolished the Caliphate (leadership of the Muslim religion) and restricted its theocratic institutions (early 1924).
- Replaced the religious education system with a national education system (1924).
- Adopted the Gregorian calendar and western time zone system, including defining the workweek as Monday to Friday (1925).
- Prohibited the veil and other religious-based clothing but only encouraged western-style clothing for women. Atatürk believed that women would follow fashions according to their free will.
- Enacted a revised legal system, including the Civil Code, Penal Statute Law, and Trade Law, based on Swiss and Italian civil law (1924-1937).
- Replaced the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, which was mandated to be taught in schools (1928). Atatürk believed that the Latin alphabet would be easier to teach to a largely (90%) illiterate population, easier to learn, and therefore would immediately impact the literacy rate.
- Promoted construction of thousands of new schools, made literacy reform a priority, and made primary education compulsory and free.
- Accelerated Turkey’s post-war economic development by establishing state-owned factories for textile and agricultural industries.
- Supported construction of the national Turkish State Railways (1927).
- Modernized state banking systems.
- Promoted advancement in the fields of science, health and medicine, law, and education.
- Adopted the international numeric system (1928).
- Supported Turkey’s culture by establishing a Turkish Historical Society (1931), a Turkish Language Association (1932).
- Adopted the International System of Units to standardize national measurements (1933)
- Changed the tax code to reduce the tax burden on peasants.
- Enacted women’s suffrage rights (1934).
- Legalized gender equality and women’s emancipation rights (1926-1934).
- Passed a law to require that everyone have a surname instead of surnames based on titles of honor (1934).
- Developed foreign policies of neutrality and cultivated friendly international relationships.
- Replaced a provincial legal system (called millet) that allowed every minority community to govern themselves with a unified, secular constitution.
- Established the Directorate for Religious Affairs, which affirmed the new Republic of Turkey’s protection and equality of all religions, including Islam.
- Encouraged reform of the Turkish language by establishing a Language Commission that replaced foreign words with Turkish ones with standardized spelling and phonetics.
- Declared that “Culture is the foundation of the Turkish Republic.” Strongly supported the arts, such as opera, theatre, literature, and music; opened museums; encouraged interest in Turkey’s indigenous Anatolian heritage, eg, naming the state-owned banks Sümerbank after the Sumerians and Etibank after the Hittites; and encouraged the importance of Turkish folk Art.
“Increasing threats, violations and attacks against our country’s independence will not withhold us from our ideals and aims. The Turkish nation is defending its independence as it did 96 years ago with the inspiration from its thousands of years of historic values,”
Parliamentary Speaker Binali Yıldırım, Vice President Fuat Oktay, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, high judicial authorities, ministers and top soldiers were among guests who visited Anıtkabir as a part of official celebrations.
So far, President Recep Tayip Erdogan, now the sole ruler of Turkey, major claim to success has been the elimination of all opposition forces against his regime, which included:
1) Some 160,000 people were detained for questioning, of which over 77,000 were formally arrested for alleged links to terror organizations, including Gulen’s network and outlawed Kurdish rebels. Those arrested include military personnel, police, journalists, lawmakers, judges and prosecutors.
2) According to Justice Ministry figures, close to 35,000 people put on trial for links to Gulen’s network have been convicted so far. Around 14,000 others were acquitted.
3) More than 130,000 people have been purged from the public service through emergency government decrees. Those dismissed include tens of thousands of teachers and close to 6,000 academics. Around 1,300 people were re-instated to jobs by a commission that was set up to review cases but 18,000 other appeals were rejected.
4) Some 170 generals and around 7,000 other senior military officers were arrested as part of the crackdown. At least 58 generals and 629 senior officers have been convicted to life terms in prison so far in trials against military officers, according to Justice Ministry figures. Eight generals were acquitted.
5) At least 143 journalists or media workers are currently behind bars, most accused of links to Gulen or Kurdish rebels, according to the Turkish Journalists Syndicate. Using emergency decrees, the government closed down around 200 media organizations, including newspapers, periodicals, radio stations and television channels.
6) Ten legislators from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party, including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, are in prison on terror charges for alleged links to Kurdish militants. Enis Berberoglu, a legislator from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, is in prison convicted of espionage for giving an opposition newspaper images allegedly showing Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking weapons into Syria.
7) Human rights activist and businessman Osman Kavala is in jail pending trial, accused of seeking to overthrow the government and having alleged links to Gulen. Eleven prominent activists were arrested last year at their hotel on an island off of Istanbul while on training. They were eventually released from jail pending the outcome of their trial for supporting terror groups. Among them was Taner Kilic, Amnesty International’s former Turkey chairman, who was released earlier this month.
Note EU-Digest : “Authenticity is the language of visionaries" wrote - Unfortunately Turkey today lacks that vision, so brilliantly carried out by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and is turning back the clock towards pre-Atatürk days.
A report from the Canadian AP Global News
and EU-Digest
August 28, 2018
Turkey: No question, Erdogan is a ruthless dictator, who has bled his country's economy dry, and the EU must not look the other way - by Ahmet Ardani
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| Turkey: If this is not a dictatorship, what is it? |
This should also reinforce the doubts that every intelligent person had about whether it was a real coup attempt at all two years ago in Turkey, or just a staged one. There are plenty of people who thought it was put on by the government of Erdogan, for the sake of purging and jailing its opponents.
We need not do more than to listen to Erdogan’s own declarations. He openly called that “coup” an opportunity for purging his enemies, and just as soon as he defeated the alleged coup attempt, he had a very long list of thousands of enemies to eliminate.
His forces moved immediately to arrest these folks. For most of them, their only failing was that they don’t blindly follow Erdogan.
Ruling in an ever more totalitarian fashion, Erdogan has taken control over all public institutions – the media and the schools, the courts and the police, the civil bureaucracy and the armed forces.
At least 50,000 people have been arrested and 150,000 purged. His Islamist party, AKP, has used these methods to consolidate control in practically all of the structures of Turkish life.
There’s even a detailed report of the Stockholm Center for Freedom, which found evidence from four days before the ostensible coup that a plan was circulated, with Erdogan’s approval, in the Armed Forces to make it look like there was a coup attempt.
It’s sad that most of the EU press, eager-to-please their governments have become quite lazy about this. They have developed a habit of calling it a “coup attempt,” when they do not in fact know that it was any such thing.
It’s high time to stop being complicit in playing Erdogan´s PR game and start being honest to the public. From all we know for sure, it’s just an alleged coup attempt.
The Erdogan regime, however, is profiting from it enormously, to pseudo-legitimize its totalitarian turn and to conduct purges from top to bottom.
We need not do more than to listen to Erdogan’s own declarations. He openly called that “coup” an opportunity for purging his enemies. Just as soon as he defeated the alleged coup attempt, he had a very long list of thousands of enemies ready to arrest.
His forces moved immediately to arrest these folks. For most of them, their only failing it is that they don’t blindly follow Erdogan.
Erdogan was also immediately ready to organize a mass mobilization against the alleged coup, and to synchronize the mosques for this. These are steps that required lots of advanced preparation.
This has even gone on at an accelerated pace after he won his recent Presidential "bogus" snap election
Ruling in an ever more totalitarian fashion, Erdogan has taken control over all public institutions – the media and the schools, the courts and the police, the civil bureaucracy and the armed forces.
At least 50,000 people have been arrested and 150,000 purged. His Islamist party, AKP, has used these methods to consolidate control in practically all of the structures of Turkish life.
Previously, Gülen was Erdogan´s most important domestic ally. He led the Islamist religious movement, while Erdogan led the Islamist political party.
Very much with the support of Erdogan’s party, Gülen had built up a state within the state. But then Erdogan decided that, to consolidate his power, the imprint that Gülen left on public life in Turkey needed to be removed completely.
Let´s also remember that the real reason for the fallout between the two was that Gülen´s forces, strongly represented in the body of public prosecutors, were closing in on the massive acts of corruption that Erdogan and his immediate family systematically organized.
It was also only logical that Erdogan demanded the extradition of Gülen and Gülenists from the US, because he is familiar with all of Erdogan's plans and corrupt swindles that have bled the country dry.
Not that the Gülenists are anything but squeaky clean. But Germany, Britain, the United States and many others have all found that Erdogan had produced no convincing evidence to justify his extradition demands.
They want no part of Erdogan´s witch hunt, to the contrary. He is considered vindictive and untrustworthy.
Erdogan responded to this refusal with demagogic attacks on Western countries. Even calling some European countries Nazis, when they were not wiling to have his "disciples" speak to Turkish immigrants in Europe, during his "bogus" referendum campaign, on a new Turkish Constitution.
The EU must definitely not cozy up to the Erdogan regime, just because of Donald Trump's tirades against him, who has been trying to get his Evangelical Pastor back to the US, so he can win the Mid-Term US election.
It has nothing to do about Trump in this particular case, but all about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Trump and Erdogan might have similar characters, but their issues with the EU are different
Europe must start calling a spade a spade - and make the long term survival extremely difficult for Erdogan, who is not only a ruthless dictator who can not be trusted, but also a danger to the European Union's democracy and security.
EU-Digest
August 14, 2018
Turkey - Economic Meltdown ?: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames lira crash on Donald Trump 'plot - by Chris Baynes
Turkey’s
president has blamed the crash of the lira on the United States,
claiming a “political, underhand plot” had sent the value of his
country’s currency tumbling to record lows.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Donald Trump of waging “economic war against the entire world”, after the American leader escalated a diplomatic feud by doubling tariffs on steel and aluminium.
“The aim of the operation is to make Turkey surrender in all
areas, from finance to politics,” the Turkish president told supporters
in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
The lira has lost more than 40 per cent of its value against dollar this year, amid worsening ties between Turkey and the US and concerns over Mr Erdogan’s influence over the economy.
The fall turned to meltdown on Friday, when the lira dropped 14 per cent, rattling global markets.
Speaking in Trabzon, Mr Erdogan dismissed suggestions that Turkey was facing a financial crisis like those seen in Asia two decades ago.
"What is the reason for all this storm in a tea cup? There is no economic reason,” he said. ”This is called carrying out an operation against Turkey.”
“We will give our answer, by shifting to new markets, new partnerships and new alliances, to the one who waged an economic war against the entire world and also included our country.
“Some close the doors and some others open new ones.”
Mr Trump announced additional sanctions on Turkish metals last week as relations between the two nations continued to sour over Ankara's detention of a US pastor.
"Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time," tweeted the US president, two days after talks between American and Turkish officials about pastor Andrew Brunson, 50, ended without any obvious progress.
Note EU-Digest: this whole confrontation between the US and Turkey has mainly to do with the mid-term US election and boosting the Evangelical support for the Republicans. Specially if Trump is able to bring Pastor Andrew Brunson back to the US, from Turkey, where he is under house arrest for supposedly collaborating with what the Erdogan government called "terrorists".
Read more: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames lira crash on Donald Trump 'plot' | The Independent
Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Donald Trump of waging “economic war against the entire world”, after the American leader escalated a diplomatic feud by doubling tariffs on steel and aluminium.
The lira has lost more than 40 per cent of its value against dollar this year, amid worsening ties between Turkey and the US and concerns over Mr Erdogan’s influence over the economy.
The fall turned to meltdown on Friday, when the lira dropped 14 per cent, rattling global markets.
Speaking in Trabzon, Mr Erdogan dismissed suggestions that Turkey was facing a financial crisis like those seen in Asia two decades ago.
"What is the reason for all this storm in a tea cup? There is no economic reason,” he said. ”This is called carrying out an operation against Turkey.”
“We will give our answer, by shifting to new markets, new partnerships and new alliances, to the one who waged an economic war against the entire world and also included our country.
Mr Trump announced additional sanctions on Turkish metals last week as relations between the two nations continued to sour over Ankara's detention of a US pastor.
"Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time," tweeted the US president, two days after talks between American and Turkish officials about pastor Andrew Brunson, 50, ended without any obvious progress.
Note EU-Digest: this whole confrontation between the US and Turkey has mainly to do with the mid-term US election and boosting the Evangelical support for the Republicans. Specially if Trump is able to bring Pastor Andrew Brunson back to the US, from Turkey, where he is under house arrest for supposedly collaborating with what the Erdogan government called "terrorists".
Read more: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames lira crash on Donald Trump 'plot' | The Independent
August 10, 2018
The Netherlands - Islam: Dutch Children from Turkish descent Forced to Submit to Islam
Parents in the Netherlands can't stop their children from being indoctrinated with Islam against their wishes.
A new report from Cultuur onder Vuur (Culture Under Fire) documents evidence from hundreds of cases where children in Dutch schools are instructed by an imam on how to pray and how schools are taking measures to hide these trips from parents.
Church Militant spoke with Hugo Bos, the campaign leader for Culture Under Fire, who said they started investigating Islamic indoctrination in Dutch schools after they found one video of a school trip to a mosque.
"We found it very shocking," he said. "We found proof of 19 cases where children took part in Islamic rites."
Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, told Bos that when children pray at these mosque excursions, it is "exercise in Islamic dawah" — a form of proselytism. From the Muslim perspective, these children are "purposefully prepared for converting to Islam."
One of the cases from 2014 involves elementary school children who were taken to a mosque in Zwolle. That mosque hosted the hate-preaching Pakistani imam, Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui. Siddiqui reportedly said, "Non-Muslim Dutch people live like dogs and b*****s."
They found other mosques children had visited had allegations of extremism and anti-Semitism and ties to the Turkish nationalist movement and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party.
Last year, Erdogan called on Muslim Turks to have five children and "educate your children at better schools."
Bos noted a survey found three-quarters of Catholic and Protestant schools visited a non-Christian place of worship. In 41 percent of those cases, it was a mosque.
Additionally, parents are often not informed of the field trips and schools take steps to hide the information from the public. Oftentimes, Bos found that the school would take down the information from their website after parents complained or they were contacted by him.
"The government has made goals for education that include respect for other religions," Bos said. The curriculum includes spiritual direction, yoga, meditation and visiting a church. In practice, Bos found little to no efforts being made to take Muslim students to non-Islamic places of worship.
Read more: Dutch Children Forced to Submit to Islam
A new report from Cultuur onder Vuur (Culture Under Fire) documents evidence from hundreds of cases where children in Dutch schools are instructed by an imam on how to pray and how schools are taking measures to hide these trips from parents.
Church Militant spoke with Hugo Bos, the campaign leader for Culture Under Fire, who said they started investigating Islamic indoctrination in Dutch schools after they found one video of a school trip to a mosque.
"We found it very shocking," he said. "We found proof of 19 cases where children took part in Islamic rites."
Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, told Bos that when children pray at these mosque excursions, it is "exercise in Islamic dawah" — a form of proselytism. From the Muslim perspective, these children are "purposefully prepared for converting to Islam."
One of the cases from 2014 involves elementary school children who were taken to a mosque in Zwolle. That mosque hosted the hate-preaching Pakistani imam, Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui. Siddiqui reportedly said, "Non-Muslim Dutch people live like dogs and b*****s."
They found other mosques children had visited had allegations of extremism and anti-Semitism and ties to the Turkish nationalist movement and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party.
Last year, Erdogan called on Muslim Turks to have five children and "educate your children at better schools."
Bos noted a survey found three-quarters of Catholic and Protestant schools visited a non-Christian place of worship. In 41 percent of those cases, it was a mosque.
Additionally, parents are often not informed of the field trips and schools take steps to hide the information from the public. Oftentimes, Bos found that the school would take down the information from their website after parents complained or they were contacted by him.
"The government has made goals for education that include respect for other religions," Bos said. The curriculum includes spiritual direction, yoga, meditation and visiting a church. In practice, Bos found little to no efforts being made to take Muslim students to non-Islamic places of worship.
Read more: Dutch Children Forced to Submit to Islam
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